From safc.com
The club will notch a broadcasting first when Manchester City visit the Stadium of Light on New Year's Day.
BBC
Swahili's flagship football programme, Ulimwengu wa Soka, will kick off
the New Year with live commentary from the Sunderland vs Manchester
City game on New Year's Day.
This is the first time that the BBC Swahili weekend football programme will broadcast from Sunderland's
Stadium of Light.
The team of producers and presenters on Ulimwengu wa
Soka bring football news and live Barclays Premier League commentary to
Swahili-speaking fans every weekend.
The two commentators who will be at the
Stadium of Light,
Charles Hilary and Salim Kikeke, are household names in East Africa and
have commentated from both the Africa Cup of Nations and the FIFA World
Cup.
BBC Swahili reporters across the region - in
Zanzibar, Nairobi, Kampala and Dar es Salaam - join listeners who enjoy
watching the matches in their localities while following the BBC Swahili
commentary on radio.
This combination of the visual provided by TV
coverage with the BBC Swahili commentaries has become the norm since
2004 when the BBC first started offering live Premier League commentary
in Swahili.
Fans also use SMS and the BBC Swahili Facebook to
share their thoughts and emotions as they follow their favourite English
Premier League teams.
David Stead, Sports Editor for BBC Global News
Languages, says: "Asamoah Gyan's victory in the BBC African Footballer
of the Year award last year really put Sunderland on the map for
audiences in Africa, and with Manchester City riding so high this
season, listeners to BBC Swahili will really enjoy listening to this
commentary in their own language".
Niall Quinn, who now heads up international
development on behalf of Sunderland AFC, added: "We are absolutely
thrilled to be welcoming the BBC World Service commentary team to the
Stadium of Light.
"Sunderland is a football club that has traditionally
enjoyed a huge support locally and we are now building on that core
support as we look to grow and develop on an international stage.
"The Barclays Premier League is watched and enjoyed
by hundreds of millions of fans around the world and for our football
club to be recognised and supported across Africa is a huge honour. "
*cough* - Habari ndio hiyo. Hehehehe